Maharashtra civic polls: From Fadnavis, AIMIM to Thackerays, here are 10 biggest winners and losers

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Maharashtra civic elections 2026 have marked a decisive shift in the urban political landscape. Held after a delay of nearly four years due to legal challenges and prolonged administrator rule.

The BJP has swept the 2026 civic polls, winning 1,425 of 2,869 seats across 29 municipal corporations, and wresting control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from Uddhav Thackeray, ending his family's three-decade-old dominance in the cash-rich civic body. The BJP won 89, and ally Shiv Sena bagged 29 seats in the 227-member BMC, while Shiv Sena (UBT) managed 65 and MNS six seats. The Congress, which fought in alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), bagged 24 seats, AIMIM 8, NCP 3, Samajwadi Party 2, and NCP (SP) got just one seat.

This brought an end to the Shiv Sena’s uninterrupted control of the civic body since 1997 and marked the BJP’s first-ever capture of India’s richest municipal corporation.


Maharashtra civic poll elections 2026: Here are the top 10 winners and losers

WINNERS

Devendra Fadnavis
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis emerged as a key strategist behind the BJP's urban resurgence, steering the party to a landslide victory in the civic polls, proving that he can deliver a historic mandate with minimal involvement of the central leadership.

The results mark Fadnavis's major electoral success since his return as the chief minister in late 2024 and are being seen as an endorsement of his leadership.

The party's performance in the civic polls has given Fadnavis a crucial boost, especially since the campaign was fought with minimal involvement from the party's central leadership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders stayed away from the campaign, placing full responsibility on the state leadership.

Fadnavis led the campaign, shaped the strategy, and finalised candidates with a small group of trusted aides, a move that proved crucial to the landslide win. With the BMC’s annual budget exceeding Rs 60,000 crore, control over Mumbai’s civic machinery also enhances the BJP’s long-term institutional leverage ahead of the 2029 assembly elections.

2. Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena
For the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the civic poll results provided crucial political validation. Since the party’s split in 2022, the Shinde faction has grappled with questions of legitimacy, a challenge the latest civic verdict has substantially addressed. Strong performances in Mumbai and Thane bolstered its claim, with the party winning or leading in 352 wards to emerge as the second-largest force in the Maharashtra civic polls.

In Mira-Bhayandar and Ulhasnagar, the Shinde-led Sena recorded near-sweeping victories, signalling voter preference for continuity in infrastructure development over symbolic or identity-driven politics.

3. Mahayuti Alliance

The BJP–Shiv Sena–NCP Mahayuti alliance once again consolidated its dominance in Maharashtra. Despite contesting separately in several cities, the alliance demonstrated strong vote transferability in key urban centres such as Mumbai, Nashik, and Nagpur.

Overall, the Mahayuti alliance won or is leading in more than 1,700 wards across the state. The decisive mandate underlined the alliance’s ability to convert its state-level power into sustained grassroots and civic dominance.

4. AIMIM

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) made modest yet politically significant gains in the Maharashtra civic elections. The party won or is leading in 94 wards, largely concentrated in Muslim-majority areas such as Bhendi Bazaar and parts of Kurla and Mumbra. In the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, AIMIM crossed the 15-seat mark.

Although its overall tally remains limited, AIMIM’s growing footprint appears to have fragmented the opposition vote, particularly to the detriment of the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT).

5. K Annamalai and the ‘Rasmalai’ Moment

As votes were counted in the Maharashtra civic elections, one of the most unexpected narratives to emerge had little to do with seats or wards. Instead, it was about political symbolism — and how a BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, without contesting a single election, managed to feature prominently in the discourse.

The episode traced back to the so-called ‘rasmalai’ controversy, which erupted during the BMC campaign when BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai remarked that Mumbai did not belong to Maharashtra alone, describing it as an international city. His comments sparked a sharp reaction at a joint Shiv Sena (UBT)–MNS rally, where MNS chief Raj Thackeray derided Annamalai as ‘rasmalai’, questioned his right to speak on Mumbai, and revived the slogan “hatao lungi, bajao pungi” — a phrase long criticised for its derogatory connotations towards South Indians.

However, as the Mahayuti alliance went on to secure a decisive victory, the narrative flipped. BJP MPs and supporters flooded social media with images of ‘rasmalai’, turning the slur into a symbol of political triumph and using it to mock Raj Thackeray.

Losers
1. Uddhav Thackeray's Sena
The steepest electoral setback was suffered by Uddhav Thackeray. From securing over 130 seats in the BMC in 2017, the Shiv Sena (UBT) was reduced to just 72 seats this time, losing ground even in traditional strongholds such as Gorai and parts of Mahim.

The loss of control over the BMC marks a significant blow for Uddhav Thackeray, as the Sena had long projected its dominance over the civic body as a core pillar of its political influence. Even the much-anticipated reunion with estranged cousin Raj Thackeray failed to translate into any tangible impact on the ground.

2. Congress
The Indian National Congress emerged as one of the biggest losers in the BMC and Maharashtra civic elections, with the results highlighting its near-total erosion in urban politics.

In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the party was reduced to around 21 seats, down sharply from over 30 in 2017. Across Maharashtra’s 27 municipal corporations, Congress managed roughly 306 wards out of 2,869. In Pune, once a Congress stronghold, the party won fewer than five seats out of 162, while in Mumbai it failed to pose a serious challenge in most wards.

The party’s decision to contest alone after the Thackeray cousins reunited did little to improve its fortunes. Its decline appears to have been driven by a combination of factors: lack of a city-specific agenda, factional infighting, and minimal presence of national leadership during the campaign.

3. Raj Thackeray and MNS
For Raj Thackeray, the civic polls underscored a long-term decline in his political influence. Despite joining forces with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray in an effort to counter the BJP, the results highlighted the limited impact of the alliance.

During the campaign, Raj Thackeray leaned heavily on the narrative of the ‘Marathi Manoos’ and invoked the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray, relying on sentiment-driven politics deeply rooted in Maharashtra’s history. His approach emphasized fiery speeches, symbolic gestures, and cultural flashpoints, often targeting migrants, linguistic outsiders, or perceived threats to Mumbai’s Marathi identity. Unlike governance- or welfare-focused politics, his appeal was primarily anchored in ‘Marathi asmita’ (Marathi pride).

4. Sharad Pawar
Sharad Pawar emerged as one of the biggest losers in the BMC and Maharashtra civic elections, with the results highlighting the steady erosion of his once-formidable hold over urban and organisational politics.

For decades, Pawar was regarded as Maharashtra’s master strategist, capable of shaping outcomes even without holding direct power. The civic verdict, however, punctured that perception. The NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) made little impact in Mumbai, winning only one ward, and remained marginal in Pune, a city long central to Pawar’s political influence.

Even his strategy of collaborating with nephew Ajit Pawar in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad failed, as the BJP swept both municipal bodies. Across Maharashtra, the faction secured just 28 out of 2,869 wards, far below expectations for a party led by a veteran of Pawar’s stature.

Crucially, Pawar’s traditional role as an alliance-builder has diminished. Opposition fragmentation and the rise of a dominant Mahayuti alliance curtailed his ability to act as a power broker. Although reports suggested he sought a unified Maha Vikas Aghadi approach, he was unable to keep the parties together, particularly after the Thackeray cousins reunited, which led the Congress to contest alone.

10. Ajit Pawar
Despite being part of the Mahayuti alliance, Ajit Pawar emerged as one of the election’s losers. During the civic poll campaigns, he repeatedly targeted his own allies, Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, exposing visible faultlines within the ruling coalition.

As the polls approached, he eventually aligned with his uncle Sharad Pawar to contest Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad as a united front. However, his campaign strategy was unusually confrontational for an alliance partner. At several rallies, he questioned why local bodies under BJP–Shinde control still faced issues like water shortages, poor roads, and inadequate urban planning, projecting his faction more as a corrective force than a stakeholder in the government’s record.

The results suggest the tactic backfired. Ajit Pawar’s faction underperformed in Pune and Nashik, reinforcing the perception that public spats with allies during the campaign eroded his credibility and bargaining power within the Mahayuti. Ultimately, the Pawar faction lost its traditional strongholds in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad to the BJP by a significant margin.